Weekly Report 🎖
D-Day Anniversary | Bikers Parade | K9's For Warriors | Marine Corps League | American Legion
81st anniversary of the D-Day landings
Please take a moment to call or email the elected officials listed below and ask them to support full funding for these initiatives. Your voice—clear, respectful, and heartfelt—can truly make a difference.
Florida American Legion Boys State/Girls State
Request: $200,000 – Non-Recurring Funding (Higher Education Budget)
House Request Form 2132 – Rep. Salzman
Senate Project 1475 – Sen. Collins
Included in House Budget
Missing from Senate Budget
Action Needed:
Call Senator Gayle Harrell (Chair, Senate Higher Education): (772) 221-4019 or (850) 487-5031 → Urge her to include this program in the final budget.
Call Representative Demi Busatta (Chair, House Higher Education): (305) 442-6808 or (850) 717-5114 → Thank her for the House's support and ask to protect it during negotiations.
National Convention Transportation – Tampa Bay 2025
Request: $250,000 – Non-Recurring Funding
House Request Form 1794 – Rep. Salzman
Senate Project 1475 – Sen. Collins
Funded at $125,000 in House Budget
Not included in Senate Budget
Action Needed:
Call Senator Nick DiCeglie (Chair, Transportation): (727) 563-1910 or (850) 487-5018 → Urge full funding to ensure mobility and access for all attendees.
Call Representative Jason Shoaf (Chair, Transportation): (850) 295-5680 or (850) 717-5007 → Thank him for the current funding and request full support in final negotiations.
Your outreach matters. When you contact legislators, please introduce yourself, mention your connection to The American Legion or the impacted community, and share why these programs matter to you. Let them know how grateful we are for their service and consideration.
Together, we can make sure Florida continues to lead in preparing youth for civic leadership and honoring our veterans with the respect and support they deserve.
Thank you for standing with us.
For God and Country,
Stuart Scott Legislative Chair The American Legion, Department of Florida
Saturday, July 12, 2025 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Dog Days of Summer
Tallahassee Harley-Davidson
Friday, July 12 | 11 AM – 3 PM
Join us for a tail-waggin’ good time at Dog Days of Summer! This special event brings together local rescues, adoptable dogs, and an amazing cause—all in one fun-filled afternoon.
K9s For Warriors will be onsite with veteran John Tappen and his service dog Henry to share how they’re changing lives by pairing rescued dogs with veterans in need.
Looking to adopt? This is your chance! Local rescues will each have their own area to showcase their adorable, adoptable pups. Whether you're searching for a new best friend or just want some puppy love, you won’t want to miss it.
Rescues will also have space for fundraising, selling pet goodies, and more—so come out to support these amazing organizations doing incredible work.
Calling all rescues: Bring your adoptable dogs, set up your tents, and be part of a heartwarming day of adoptions, awareness, and community!
Let’s give every fur baby a chance at a forever home
Contact akainfo@aol.com
Commander Marc Dickieson will lead the coalition July 2025 meeting.
Whew! We saw a RECORD NUMBER 28 Veterans and family members at yesterday's
Legal Clinic at Lk Ella (Thursday). Like last week, our volunteer team
totaled 19 including 6 attorneys. We also researched and responded to
several other Veterans by phone and website inquiries. Veterans' legal
issues this week again included Georgia cases, wills, child support
problems, driver's license reinstatements, divorces, housing, benefits, real
estate, consumer fraud, etc. And thank you for the consistent volunteer
administrative work at the front door and computer/files tables, Khalid,
Kathy, & Margaret today, with Susie throughout our Clinic sessions. Kudos
to Khalid Shafi, Dexter White, Eddie McMillian, Chris Bodiford & Dave
Gerourd for the food distribution Wednesday to several housing
facilities.. Welcome back, Cindy Myers, (she was hired in LSNF's VA funded
atty position for Tallahassee!)
And the local Commanders' Coalition keeps growing, too, with 54 participants
attending and hearing reports Wednesday from Veteran events and
announcements, including several TVLC board and clinic partners and
volunteers. Great job, John Folsom, Ed Hood and this month's co-chair,
Frank Roycraft, not to mention every month's recording hero, Marianne
Trussell!
Please make note that our website address has changed in recent weeks, and
change it if you have it posted anywhere. www.Tallahasseeveteranslegal.com
Florida's legislators are back in town these next few days, compromising on
the State Budget; conference meetings between the House and Senate can be
seen on the Florida Channel (Channel 201 if you have Comcast cable) all
weekend; each set of "funding projects" and agency funding can be found on
the Appropriations pages of www.flsenate.gov and www.flhouse.gov
Leon County Veterans Treatment Court is in session again this
Monday, June 9, 3 pm in Courtroom 2E. Come observe downtown in the Leon
Courthouse; you may decide to become a volunteer Veteran Mentor for one or
more of the Vets in the program. You won't regret the teamwork.
More info is coming out on the cuts to VA, which could gut billions over the
next decade, while we are helping additional Veterans access the VA benefits
they deserve and need. Advocates fear fewer doctors, longer wait times,
diminished care for PTSD, suicide prevention and chronic conditions, and
likely "hollowing out the VA system" for for-profit providers, decreasing
specialized care.
Reprise: Nationally, specific budget cuts to our country's "safety net"
were passed through their first chamber of Congress, despite the bipartisan
opposition from citizens, agencies and elected officials from both parties.
VA's job freeze and cuts are still rolling out, despite more Vets getting
added to the health care system under the expanded disability benefits laws
enacted in recent years.
Locally, VA's housing program is soon to have a vacancy (a retirement) with
no opportunity for new staffing, and medical folks have now been warning
Vets of lengthy delays in referrals to specialists, etc: Call your friends
who work for the federal VA to let them know they're appreciated and give
them your contact info in case they lose their VA cell number amidst the
funding cuts, layoffs and firings that are including probationary employees,
as well as former military Veterans in a variety of specialties (and the
latest projections target some 84,000 VA jobs and programs to be cut!)
And be sure to let us know about parttime job opportunities for Veterans on
subsistence, as well as any emergency housing, shared rentals, etc. since
housing is still scarce and services are delayed via waiting lists. A
FLORIDA SENATOR SUMMARIZED VA'S NEEDS AGAIN (on the Senate floor): more than 952,000 claims have been pending longer than 125 days, including 23,900 in
Florida; the backlog is still more than 241,000 including claims that go
back DECADES. (The VFW-supported bill he sponsored did pass the legislature
and is on its way to the Governor SB910/HB277).
Special Thanks to Commander Frank Roycraft for presiding over our June 2025 meeting. Learn more about the VFW here
Commander and/or Chapter information is needed
